When to plant gladioli. How to plant gladioli in the ground in the fall? Care instructions

I love flowers very much and have been growing them for years. In this article I will share with you my experience in growing gladioli. After all, in order for them to delight you with their beauty for a long time, you need to know some small “secrets”. Remember that gladiolus is a bulbous flower, very delicate, attracting attention.

Although he is not considered very whimsical, he requires attention. These flowers will repay your care and attention with a delicate aroma and beauty. It’s hard not to pay attention to all the splendor of gladioli during flowering. Take seriously the planting of gladioli in open ground in the spring.

• High-quality planting material.
• Choosing the right place for planting bulbs.c
• Preparing the soil for planting gladioli.
• Planting gladioli in spring.

Planting material

Powerful and beautiful gladioli grow from relatively small bulbs. The selection of planting material must be taken carefully. It is important to know that the size and shape of the bulbs may vary slightly among different varieties. Therefore, when choosing planting material, take into account the characteristics of the variety you like.

But in any case, the bulbs must be healthy. They should not have black or brown spots or mold. The surface husk should be dry, and the onion itself should not be soft.

It is best to select medium-sized corms with a small bottom for planting. If it is large, and the tuber itself is large and flat, then such planting material is old and lush and powerful flowers are unlikely to grow from it.

Small ones and children are high-quality material, but require growing and will fully reveal their beauty only in the next season. But if they are strong and healthy, then you shouldn’t give them up. It is important to remember that old bulbs do not produce high-quality new planting material.

When choosing bulbs, pay special attention to the root tubercles. In spring they are clearly visible on healthy tubers and are brown in color.

Also, the corm must have a powerful green sprout. Its presence indicates that this particular gladiolus has not bloomed before, which means that this season it will fully reveal itself in all its glory. This planting material is of the highest quality and suitable for planting.

A tuber with three or more sprouts should not be taken. The flowers will be small and the plant height will be short. The presence of a large number of green sprouts indicates grassiness, and this is considered a disease in gladioli. Such a tuber is not suitable for planting.

Selecting a place for planting gladiolus bulbs

Gladioli are the flowers of the sun. They love sunny places, but also grow and bloom well in light partial shade. But at the same time, they will develop a little slower and later appear before you in all their glory. Therefore, in order for them to bloom well, always choose sunny areas in the flowerbed.

Gladioli really do not like drafts. They do not grow in low places and where groundwater is close. Choose elevated areas for them or make a high flower bed. Once the bulbs are planted, secure the edges of the flower bed with boards or other material.

Such fasteners prevent the soil from washing away during rains. Slopes and hills are not suitable for gladioli. If the summer is very hot, then during the hottest period of time the flowers need to be slightly shaded.

Preparing the soil for planting

When planting gladioli in the ground in the spring, soil preparation is of no small importance. You can’t just throw a bulb into the ground and expect it to bloom beautifully. It is necessary to prepare a place for planting. And this needs to be done in the fall.

Gladioli do not grow on peat bogs, sand and clay. There must be black soil in the planting areas, and it is a good idea to sprinkle a little dry sand at the bottom, which prevents rainwater from stagnating.

It is best if the soil is slightly acidic with a reaction of no more than pH 6.5. If the acidity is higher than this figure, then the earth must be mixed with chalk or quicklime.

How to plant a bulb? Remember that gladiolus has a powerful root system, so you need to dig up the soil to an average depth of 45 cm. The soil should be as clean as possible and free of weeds. The most dangerous of them is the wireworm, which damages the plant bulbs.

Organic residues must also be removed. They spread fungus and scab, which severely damage the bulb. Children and small bulbs often die from this. Young and strong planting material is lost.

When preparing the soil, it is important to apply fertilizer. The most suitable are complex phosphorus-potassium compounds. Nitrophoska also works well. All fertilizing should be applied according to the instructions on the package.

Planting gladioli in open ground in spring

When planting gladioli in the ground, the following points are important:

• Soil temperature.
• Soil moisture.
• Planting depth.
• Distance between bulbs.

Gladioli bulbs are planted in open ground after spring frosts and when the soil warms up to at least +8 C. But you shouldn’t wait too long - the soil loses moisture. But the onion cannot remain in dry soil for a long time. It will be late in growing and flowering.

It is important to know at what depth to plant the bulb. Planting material is planted on average to a depth of 10-15 cm, and children - to 7-9 cm. But if the variety is vigorous, then the tuber is buried to a depth of at least 20 cm. The distance between the bulbs should be 3 times greater than the bulb itself.

Plants can be planted in rows and randomly, but it is advisable to make small furrows. As the green shoots grow, the grooves with planting material are gradually filled. This is done until the soil in the holes is equal in height to the rest of the soil in the garden bed. The plant gradually grows, and the young stem does not dry out in the sun.

If you dream of long-term flowering of gladioli, carry out planting work in several stages with an interval of at least 10 days.

Gladiolus is a favorite of many gardeners. It decorates the garden with its bright, beautiful buds from mid-July to August. The size and number of flowers directly depends on the quality of preparation and germination of the corms. Therefore, any gardener should know when to take gladioli out of the refrigerator for germination, and how to germinate them correctly.

The determining condition for planting sprouted bulbs is the soil temperature. It should be 8-10 degrees. Such warming of the earth in different regions is achieved approximately in April-May. Therefore, you need to start germinating gladioli in the spring, when there are 15-20 days left until the specified soil temperature is reached. Overwintered bulbs need just this amount of time to gain strength and sprout new shoots.

The germination time of young and adult onions may vary due to different rates of biochemical processes occurring in them.

For this reason, children should be removed from the refrigerator earlier, adult bulbs a little later.

Preparing gladioli after dormancy

When it’s time to take it out after winter storage, you need to perform a number of operations:

1. Thorough inspection. This stage involves freeing overwintered corms from dry husks. The procedure is necessary to reject diseased, shrunken or softened heads. Dried scales can also prevent young shoots from breaking through.
2. Not all diseased gladioli should be thrown away immediately. If the lesions on the bulb are minor, you can remove them with a sharp object. The cut should be treated with antiseptic brilliant green, iodine and sprinkled with crushed coal.
3. Keeping in solutions of antibacterial substances. The procedure is necessary for additional disinfection from pests, strengthening the root system, and saturating the bulbs with moisture. The holding time is several hours. Substances such as potassium permanganate, boric acid, and karbofos should be used. By worrying in advance about how to prepare gladioli bulbs for planting in the spring, you will certainly get larger and more abundant flowers.

Experts use this recipe. A mixture of 0.3 g of vitriol, 0.2 g of boric acid and potassium permanganate, and 0.1 g of cobalt nitrate should be diluted in a liter of warm water. Keep the bulbs in this solution for 10-12 hours. Soaking increases the size of the flowers, the number of buds reaches several dozen.

When to germinate gladioli in the spring

The germination container should be selected with low sides and a wide bottom. This could be a cardboard box or a plastic cup with holes. The corms are laid out evenly, in one layer, with their necks up. The container is placed in a warm place, without intense light or drafts.

When it is not possible to take gladioli out of the refrigerator for germination, you can plant them directly into the soil, but you need to be prepared for the fact that the flowering period will shift and the size of the buds will be more modest.

Flower growers also use this method of preparing gladioli for planting in the spring, such as wet germination. It is more troublesome, but very effective. Place the bulbs in a container with sawdust moistened with water and sprinkle with them. Place the container in a warm, illuminated place. Regularly moisten the sawdust. If observed growth is too rapid, reduce humidity and move to shade.

Not only whole bulbs with sprouts can be recommended for planting. Large gladioli can be cut into pieces according to the number of buds. Sometimes gardeners deliberately stimulate the appearance of lateral buds. Tricks such as laying the onion when sprouting with its bottom up or on its side are used. Sometimes additional treatment is carried out with a tuberization stimulator.

Cut the bulbs a week before planting in the ground. Disinfect the cut areas and sprinkle with crushed coal. Dry the parts and additionally treat them with a fungicide before planting.

The time frame for germination of gladioli in the spring is one to two weeks.

Planting gladioli in the ground

Gladioli are planted in holes made of light, loose soil. The distance between the bulbs is at least 15 cm. When planting, you should add sand, and after the seedlings appear, sprinkle the ground with humus. The depth of the depth should be approximately equal to four diameters of the bulb.

Sprouted flowers planted in the ground can withstand even short frosts without loss.

Flowering of cut bulbs begins later than usual.

Cleaning for storage

At the end of the flowering period, gladioli should be dug up and the tops removed. Bulbs cleared of soil should be treated with fungicides, especially if the plants have suffered diseases. The choice of drug depends on the pest that affected the gladioli. It could be Fundozol. They must be thoroughly dried before storing. Storage is carried out in dry, cool conditions. The refrigerator and basement are ideal for these purposes. In the refrigerator, the bulbs are stored in a bag with holes.

Be sure to label the varieties or colors of gladioli. You can apply inscriptions directly to the corms, or tie strings with inscriptions.

The dormant period for gladioli is about 6 months. During this period, gladioli must be regularly inspected once every two weeks. Make a note to yourself when you need to take gladioli out of the refrigerator to germinate.

Useful tips for beginning gardeners:

1. During flowering, do not forget to remove wilted buds. This will extend the flowering period of the rest;
2. Do not plant gladioli in one place for more than two years. This will protect the plants from being damaged by the pest;
3. It is not recommended to plant young onions (babies) together with older ones that have already flowered. They can draw water and nutrients to themselves;
4. Carefully choose the variety of gladioli. Currently, there are about two hundred varieties of this flower, differing in color and shape of the flowers. From them you need to choose the one that suits your desires and region of residence.

Gladiolus is not a difficult flower to care for. Take care to follow the rules for storing and preparing gladioli for planting, and the plant will certainly thank you with its beautiful flowering.

Video about preparing gladioli bulbs for planting

Look at the lunar calendar when it is best to plant gladioli in open ground, then check the weather forecast for that day. In May 2016, for example, the 6th was generally prohibited for gardening work.

Therefore, planting gladioli in the ground in spring is a delicate and almost mystical matter. But practice shows that the usefulness of the lunar calendar for timely planting and caring for plants is justified.

Inspecting gladioli bulbs before planting

• Three weeks before the target date, you need to remove the bulbs and inspect them. Carefully peel off the scales that cover the gladioli bulbs. This is necessary to identify damage and infection on the bulb and discard unsuitable ones. But don’t overdo it, scales that come off easily and peels that need to be peeled off are two different things. There is no need to do anything violent with the bulbs.
• Burn tubers covered with ulcers or moldy immediately. If the bulbs have dark brown spots, carefully cut them off with a sharp knife. Lubricate the cuts with green paint. (You can wipe the sections with alcohol). This completes the inspection of the seed material.

But there is one more point worth noting. If the bulbs are large, they can be cut so that there is an eye left on each half. This is worth doing if you need to propagate some particularly rare variety of gladioli. However, if you are a beginner gardener, there is no need to experiment.

My neighbor cuts the onions with a very sharp knife dipped in vodka so that each half has a sprout-bud and the onion is evenly divided. Sprinkles the cut area with ash and dries it.

Only after this does the bulbs place in a bright place on the top shelf of the cabinet for germination. Special attention to such cut bulbs is determined by extensive floriculture experience.

Germination of gladioli

Choose a well-lit, dry, warm place in your home where you can place your gladioli bulbs. You cannot place them on the window, as they will be exposed to direct sunlight. The best place is on a cabinet or on a shelf in a spacious cardboard box.

note

We all love plastic containers now. So, neither storage nor forcing, even in open plastic, is suitable for gladiolus bulbs. We need absence of moisture and free air circulation.

Place the bulbs side by side with the buds facing up. Moisture should not get in, as active root growth will begin, and in gladioli they are very fragile. If they are broken off, and this is inevitable when planting, the plants will grow poorly, or even die completely.

When the gladioli sprout sprouts about 10 centimeters long, you can plant them in open ground; the time has come. But keep in mind that the ground should already be quite warm. For gladioli it is 10 degrees Celsius.

Good advice

If you see that some tubers have sprouted poorly, or have not sprouted at all, you can throw them away. Don't be greedy! You won’t get beautiful flowers from them, and no one wants to look with sadness at sickly green leaves without signs of blooming.

When to plant gladioli in open ground in spring

Depending on the climate, gladioli are planted in the ground in the spring from April 15 to May 5. Depending on the weather and air temperature for this period. Usually, by May 10, gladioli are already planted throughout central Russia.

The main condition is that the soil warms up to +10 degrees. Choose a sunny place for planting, protected from strong winds. Do not plant gladioli in areas with high humidity. The soil should be light and loose.

Good advice from an experienced neighbor

If you have acidified soil, then buy or find dolomite flour and dig up the soil to plant gladioli in the ground along with dolomite.

It is easy to determine whether your soil is acidic or not by the weeds that have occupied your area.

• If there is a lot of plantain, clover, dandelion, wheatgrass on it, then you have acidic soil.
• If there is also moss, horsetail, and sedge, then you have very acidic soils.

Gladiolus grows very poorly on such lands, and blooms even worse. This means that the places where you will plant it will also need to be deoxidized before planting the bulbs. Dolomite is indispensable for this purpose.

Don't think that dolomite is something exotic. Surely, there are dolomite quarries in your area, and gardening stores always have it on sale.

You need to dig up the soil in the fall, mixed with humus. But if it didn’t work out in the fall, prepare it a couple of weeks before planting gladioli in the ground in the spring.

Attention!

Under no circumstances should gladioli be fertilized with fresh manure.

How to properly plant gladioli bulbs in the ground

• Sort the corms by diameter from largest to smallest.
• Right before planting, soak the bulbs for 30 minutes in a solution of Fitosporin, diluted according to the instructions.
• For large tubers, dig a trench 15 centimeters deep.
• Sprinkle with sand and ash.
• Place large gladioli bulbs at a distance of 50 centimeters from each other.
• Press it into the ground a little, then sprinkle with sand and wood ash. If roots have formed, plant in holes and cover with soil. But do not let the roots appear on the bulbs. They are very easy to break. If not all, then some. Thus weakening the plant and depriving it of a powerful nutrition system. Then the entire operation of planting gladioli in the ground in the spring can be considered a failure. Alas!
• Pour a warm solution of pink potassium permanganate and cover with soil.
• For medium-sized bulbs, dig a trench 9 centimeters deep. For very small children – 6 centimeters.

Caring for planted bulbs

If you live in a region where frost is possible after planting, be sure to cover at night until the shoots are 5 centimeters tall.

Trimmed plastic bottles are best suited for this purpose. And the sprout will not be damaged and will be protected from the cold. Planting gladioli in the ground in spring is the key to a beautiful flower garden on your site.

Then the gladioli will need to be hilled up and mulched with dry grass or dry leaves. Thanks to mulch, the soil will not dry out and crack, and there will be much fewer weeds. After harvesting, when the ground is dug up, the mulch will serve as top dressing.

Good advice

It is better to choose gladioli for planting, which begin to bloom early. If you do not live in the south, it is quite possible that late varieties simply will not have time to please you with flowers due to worsening weather.

During the growth period of gladiolus, water it abundantly, but do not allow water to stagnate near the stem. No puddles - the ground should be well moistened, but not soggy. Rotten roots mean the death of gladiolus.

In this case, you won’t get any flowers from him. There will be nothing but disappointment and disappointment from wasted time and labor.

How to store gladioli bulbs

Don't forget to dig up your gladioli tubers when fall arrives. They cannot overwinter in open ground. Gladioli are our southern guests and central Russia has unusual natural growing conditions for them. We have to create comfortable conditions.

Store gladioli bulbs in a dark, dry and cool place in wooden boxes or thick cardboard boxes. The underground floor of a private house is best suited for this.

Or invent something closer in terms of conditions to traditional storage of root vegetables. So that they do not become damp, do not freeze and do not germinate ahead of time.

In a city apartment, this is more difficult to do, but on the loggias you can install insulated boxes for storing vegetables, potatoes and carrots. These conditions are also suitable for gladioli bulbs.

Planting gladioli in the ground in the spring, taking into account all conditions, proper care and friendly gladioli rich in buds are links in one chain. Violations are unacceptable, so that you don’t feel incredibly sorry for the time and money spent on growing a beautiful flower garden on your property to the envy of your neighbors and to your own delight.

Gladioli are flowers that are very popular. They not only decorate flower beds, but also plant them at home. But, nevertheless, most often they can be found in open ground. Using the advice of experienced flower growers, you will be able to grow beautiful flowers with a large number of peduncles.

Gladioli - description

Gladiolus has a fairly ancient history. The first mentions of it have existed since antiquity. In Greece at that time it was considered a weed. In addition, when times of famine came, the Greeks used the tubers for food.

The ancient ancestor of the gladiolus was so beautiful that over time it became increasingly used to decorate the garden in Rome and spread further. A beautiful perennial flower can reach a height of 150 cm, depending on the variety this figure may vary slightly. Inflorescences can be arranged spirally on one or both sides. The stem of gladioli is strong and straight, decorated with leaves that have a xiphoid or linear shape.

Preparatory procedures before landing

Patience will be required for those who want to grow healthy gladioli. To do this, it is not enough to simply plant the bulb in the soil; it is important to properly store the planting material in winter, water it, loosen it and carry out other procedures.

Selection of corms

The variety of gladiolus must be selected taking into account the climate in which it will grow. In addition, the type of soil and other features are also important. The best choice is a large bulb, as the survival rate is much better and more flower stalks will appear during flowering.

In addition, you need to choose bulbs taking into account the following parameters:

• planting material should not have defects, painful lesions, ulcers and other nuances;
• You definitely need to pay attention to the bottom, it must be clean, and if the roots are cut, their color must be white;
• despite the fact that the scales must be removed before planting, at the time of selection they should be shiny or reddish; gray color indicates poor quality material that may not bloom;
• when checking the bulbs, the scales should be easily removed, and the flesh underneath them should have a uniform color structure, without spots or stripes;
• The stem also needs to be inspected; the cut area should have the same color as the scales; a blackened cut indicates deterioration of the material.

Choosing a landing site

Before planting gladioli in open ground, you need to choose the right place. At the same time, we must not forget that the soil should be light and drained, without drafts.

Gladioli, which are planted in the northern part, bloom quickly. In addition, an area with high groundwater levels is not suitable for these flowers. It is difficult to predict what the result will be. The best is considered to be a flat area with a slight slope to the south. At midday, darkening is allowed in the southern regions.

In addition, novice gardeners need to follow a detailed care plan.

Soil selection

An important component for the favorable cultivation of gladioli is the acidity of the soil. Such soil causes poor flower opening. In addition, they quickly darken and wither, and fusarium also appears. The optimal soil for gladioli is slightly acidic.

You can neutralize acidity using eggshells and dolomite flour. For one square meter you will need 200 grams of product.

Gladioli grow well in loam. In this case, you need to correct the soil; for this you need to add sand to the heavy loam. But if we are talking about sandy soil, then rotted compost and clay are added there. Gladioli should be planted at a time when the earth has warmed up well.

The best soil for this flower is considered to be the one where legumes or other vegetables were previously planted. But if root crops or asters grew in the garden plot, then it is not suitable for gladioli.

Planting in open ground

Planting gladioli has its own characteristics. First of all, preparation and processing of children and bulbs is required. The scales are cleaned off, the affected bulbs are removed or the affected parts are removed, followed by treating the cut with brilliant green. When the planting material germinates, it can be planted in the ground.

Before planting in the spring, you also need to treat the gladioli bulbs with a product to avoid future damage by fungus or thrips. A solution of potassium permanganate is suitable for this, in which the tubers are kept for about 30 minutes.

Gladioli love warmth and tolerate heat well, so they are planted in a well-lit area. Flowers need to be planted in April; as a result, after a few months they will begin to bloom, around June.

It is also recommended to leave the seedling in open ground, where there are no frequent gusts of wind. Under its pressure, due to its height, flowers can break. The soil should be well warmed up to 8-10 degrees Celsius. In this case, the bulbs are placed in the ground to a depth of approximately 10 centimeters. To begin with, trenches are dug, planting material is placed there and sprinkled with wood ash and sand on top. Additionally, you can water the gladioli with a solution of potassium permanganate, after which you need to level the soil.

Caring for flowers in the open ground

In order for gladioli to delight the eye with their beautiful blooms in summer, they need to be looked after. It is required to properly prepare for planting, store, and carry out other procedures while the bulbs are in the ground.

Watering

A special watering system for gladioli is required. You cannot pour water under each stem. To moisten the soil, it is better to make shallow grooves between the tubers and pour water into them. This way the leaves will not be damaged. You can use additional equipment that will perform this task. In this case, only an experienced agricultural technician can help you choose the right one, based on how the breeding and planting were carried out.

Top dressing

The seedlings need to be covered with humus. This should be done when the stems are at least 8 cm high. Fertilizer is added along the stem from a height of 5 cm. This will prevent the roots from rotting and the moisture will not evaporate.

Loosening and weeding

You need to carefully loosen the soil around the gladioli. This should be done approximately once every 2 weeks. It is important to go around the stems and bulbs so as not to damage them.

Tying up

When the buds appear in June, you need to tie up the flowers. It is recommended to use pegs for this. At the same time, during flowering the stems will not bend and remain straight. In addition, this procedure will prevent the gladiolus from breaking.

Cutting

After the first lower flower opens, you need to cut it. But you need to do it before the tubers give up all the nutrients accumulated during the wintering period. In this case, the flowers will stand in the water for a long time and open all their buds, and the bulbs can be used next year.

Collecting tubers and storing them in winter

In the fall, around mid-September, but no less than a month later, you need to collect the bulbs. In this case, it is necessary to separate the children from the mother tuber and destroy all damaged and diseased ones. Some gardeners, with minor damage, prefer to cut off the affected areas and save the remaining parts.

After harvesting, planting material is cleaned of dirt, disinfected and dried before winter. Drying is carried out over several days, after which they are laid out in boxes. It is recommended to treat them with a manganese solution.

For the first few weeks, gladioli should be kept warm at temperatures up to 30 degrees Celsius. Next you need to lower it to 20 degrees Celsius. It is at this temperature that the bulbs will be stored until spring.

From time to time, the bulbs need to be inspected in order to identify affected materials in time and dispose of them. As for children, it is recommended to store them at a temperature of 5 degrees Celsius. Boxes with tubers can be left in the cellar, if vegetables and fruits are not stored there, in the pantry at the dacha or in places where there is air circulation, placing them on a raised platform.

Gladioli diseases and control methods

Gladioli are not immune to disease, so it is important to monitor their health. As a result, they may be susceptible to the following ailments:

1. Fusarium affects all parts of the gladiolus and is a fungal infection. In this case, yellowing is noted from the tips. Oval red-brown spots appear on the bulbs themselves.
2. Gray, hard or dry rot are also fungal diseases. They develop in rainy weather conditions. At the same time, brown spots appear on the leaves, and then they die. In addition, the core is darker inside and subsequently dries out. As a result, a through hole appears in it, and the walls of the bulb become covered with a gray coating and the insides become carrion, which can harm healthy flowers. If dry rot develops, the bulb becomes covered with brown formations, and hard rot is characterized by dark brown round ulcers.
3. It is possible to develop a bacterial disease - scab. It spreads on flowers that are planted in alkaline soil. It is characterized by the appearance of small red-brown spots at the base of the leaves. As a result, the leaves turn brown and dry, and the bulbs become covered with ulcerative, glossy formations.
4. Gladioli can be susceptible to the spread of viral diseases that are carried by insects. The mosaic appears as spots on the leaves and yellow streaks.

The listed diseases cannot be treated, and as a result the plant dies, and very slowly. Therefore, to save it you need to prepare it before planting:

Gladioli decorated the gardens of palaces and the front gardens of houses even before Gaius Julius Caesar crossed the Rubicon. A wonderful legend was born in ancient Rome. Two courageous warriors and loyal friends were captured, where they became gladiators.

They were ordered to fight each other, with the condition that one of them would die and the other would be free. But both, entering the arena, simultaneously stuck their swords into the sand. Such an act was punishable by death. But before the eyes of numerous spectators, the swords became green stems with large long leaves and beautiful flowers bloomed on them in the shape of exquisite bowls. And people realized that the actions of their friends pleased the gods, and gave freedom to both. And the gladiolus, due to its resemblance to a long blade of a weapon, is called a sword.

Gladioli with large and bright flowers are a wonderful decoration for a flower bed, lawn, or front garden. Using different varieties, you can create interesting flower combinations, and extend the flowering period to more than a month, using varieties with different flower blooming periods.

Gladioli: storage and preparation for planting

The popularity of gladioli is explained not only by their decorative appearance, but also by simple agricultural technology. These southern flowers do not always survive the cold winter, so the bulbs are dug up and stored in a well-ventilated basement or in the refrigerator in a vegetable drawer until the first frost, and then planted again in flower beds in the spring.

When to take gladioli out of the refrigerator or from the basement for germination?

How to prepare gladioli for planting in the spring so that they delight you with their decorative appearance and long-term flowering depends on where you plan to grow them - in a greenhouse, a heated greenhouse or in the open air. If they will grow in a greenhouse, preparing gladioli bulbs for planting - germination is possible as early as January. This will allow you to see the flowering plants before the apricots and cherries bloom.

After the tubers have rested in a dark, cold place all winter, they need at least three weeks for pre-planting preparation. Having determined when to plant gladioli in open ground, take them out 20-25 days before this date.

When to plant gladioli in open ground in spring?

When to plant gladioli in open ground in spring depends on climate features of your region. In the southern regions, planting is carried out from the 3rd decade of March to mid-April, and already at the end of May the first flowers of early varieties bloom in the flower beds. In colder climates, gladioli are planted in the spring from the 3rd decade of April until Victory Day.

To more accurately calculate when to plant gladioli in open ground in the spring, measuring the temperature of the ground will allow you to measure the temperature of the ground - at a depth of 10 cm it should warm up to at least 10 degrees, so planting dates can vary by 1-2 weeks in different years.

When to plant gladioli seedlings?

The timing of planting fennel depends on what time you want it to bloom. In a greenhouse, by maintaining an optimal temperature and increasing daylight hours, including lighting, you can achieve flowering both in the depths of winter and late autumn. If the seedlings are planned to be planted in a flowerbed outside, it is advisable to obtain the bulbs 10-14 days earlier than planting gladioli in the ground in the spring in your city or village requires.

Detailed instructions from A to Z for planting gladioli in open ground are in this article.

Planting gladioli as seedlings in the spring is practiced for cutting flowers at an earlier period, but due to the greater labor intensity and complexity of such agricultural technology, it is not often used when growing fudge in dachas and city flower beds. In the northern regions, where night temperatures in the second half of May - early June can drop to -3 degrees, no advice on how to plant gladioli correctly will help: the seedlings do not take root well and often die, so they are grown in greenhouses.

How to prepare gladioli for planting after winter?

Preparing gladioli for planting in the spring begins with bulb inspection. Only absolutely healthy and undamaged ones can be used for planting in a flower bed. It is worth inspecting them especially carefully for the presence of rot and plaque - such planting material will become a source of diseases that will develop in the future and lead not only to the death of the infected swordfish, but also to the spread of the disease.

If you have to plant valuable varieties of gladioli in open ground and it’s a pity to throw away damaged tubers, you can try to make them healthier. That's all for this damaged areas are removed with a sharp knife. The bulbs are placed in a pale pink manganese solution, and then the sections are treated with foundation or brilliant green and sprinkled with ash. In this case, it does not matter how to plant gladioli in the spring so that they bloom, so it is better not to rush with planting such planting material, since it tolerates cold weather much less well.

Planting material treated in this way is planted not in a flowerbed, but in a separate bed.

It is advisable to plant children in a separate bed. They develop better this way without competing with more powerful adult plants for sunlight, moisture and minerals from the soil.

Having selected healthy gladioli, preparation for planting continues in several stages:

1. Calibration– healthy bulbs of each variety must be sorted by size, since the size determines how to plant gladioli bulbs and at what depth;
2. Cleaning from covering husks– this operation must be performed carefully, sometimes even in the refrigerator the bulbs begin to sprout and it is important not to damage the sprout;
3. Disinfection- for this, both healthy and damaged and trimmed bulbs are kept for 20-30 minutes in a weak solution of manganese (necessarily in different containers). Also, you should not mix planting material of different varieties at this stage;
4. Soaking in a 0.2% solution of boric acid for 48 hours - this will improve the health of the planting material and produce taller stems and larger flowers;
5. Germination– the bulbs are placed in boxes filled with turf soil, humus, sand and peat mixed in equal proportions. To speed up germination, it is recommended to add bone meal, superphosphate or wood ash. Before emergence, the boxes should be kept indoors at a temperature no higher than 18 degrees.

It should be noted that experts involved in growing these flowers have not come to a consensus on how to prepare gladioli bulbs for planting in the spring. Some argue that germination allows you to cull non-viable planting material and achieve earlier flowering and improve the decorative qualities of the plant. Others object that it is very difficult to replant a sprouted plant without damaging its thin roots, so It's better to sprout bulbs, spreading them in one layer on a table or other flat surface at a temperature of 17-18 degrees. The height of the arrows at the time of planting should be 3-5 cm, the root tubercles should swell, but the roots themselves are still missing. In this case, it is not recommended to moisten the tubers, spray them with water, or use growth stimulants.

Determining how to properly plant gladioli in the spring on your site can only be done experimentally. The first method allows you to achieve earlier and more consistent flowering, and is suitable for large quantities of planting material. The second allows you to reduce the culling of bulbs, but a lot depends on the hands of the grower.

In order for the skewer to delight with beautiful flowers, it is necessary not only to prepare the gladioli bulbs for planting in the spring, but also to prepare the soil. The bed should be prepared at least two weeks before planting. It is important that the soil was loose and light, and the bed itself was located in a well-lit place, but protected from the winds. Gladioli also do not like low places where water stagnates.

When choosing where and when to plant gladioli in the spring, take into account the flowering time of neighboring plants, because large flowers will distract attention. The best neighbors for a blooming fennel - marigolds or calendula. They protect it from such a dangerous disease as fusarium and serve as an excellent background for bright and large flowers.

When determining when to plant gladioli in the spring, in what month, keep in mind that it is not necessary to plant them all at the same time. To make the flower bed look decorative from the end of July until frost, you can not only choose early, middle and late varieties, but also plant bulbs of the same variety in several stages at weekly intervals.

It is advisable to plant plants of different varieties nearby, the shortest ones in the first row, the tallest ones in the center.

Unlike many other plants, how to plant gladioli with bulbs in the spring is determined separately for each bulb, depending on its size (which is why in the gladioli section, storage and preparation for planting, advice is given to calibrate the planting material). The size of the hole should be 3 times larger than the diameter of the bulb, so planting tubers of the same size is much more convenient.

It is important to ensure enough space for the growth and development of powerful frond leaves. Experienced flower growers, telling how to plant gladioli in spring in detail, always recommend making holes at a distance of at least 70 cm from each other.

Flowers can be planted in rows or in a checkerboard pattern.

Another tip on how to properly plant gladioli in the spring - use sand, pouring an additional handful under each onion. This will improve the drainage characteristics of the soil, and the root system will not lack oxygen after heavy watering or heavy rains. The likelihood of developing fungal diseases also decreases.